


When Darkness Consumes Light

by Maniacal_Meeka



Category: Undertale (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Grillby main character, Multiverse Shenanigans, OOC, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maniacal_Meeka/pseuds/Maniacal_Meeka
Summary: Thanks to some unexplained multiverse bullshit Grillby has wound up unconscious in Kurogiri’s bar.  Kurogiri meanwhile is trying his best to stay cool as he handles the potential security breach/walking campfire known as Grillby.  Confusion and misunderstandings abound as Kurogiri tries to protect the league, Grillby tries not to die, and everyone tries to adjust to the interesting abilities the fire elemental possesses.  Most notably... the ability to expose someone’s soul.God I suck at summaries... sorry guys.The rating is for strong language and some mild torture (we are dealing with villains after all)
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, W. D. Gaster/Grillby, like... could be mistaken for platonic, mild
Comments: 15
Kudos: 125





	1. How’s This To Brighten Your Day?

It was late, and Kurogiri was exhausted, he was just finishing cleaning off the bar after Toga brought home one of her “projects”. He rolled his eyes at the thought, “honestly that girl can be so careless” he sighed “she’s going to be the death of me I swear to god”. The task was thankfully simple if tedious, but Kurogiri didn't want to get even a speck of blood on his clothes, as he’d ruined enough suits because of Toga’s late night frivolity.

Suddenly a blinding flash of light filled the room along with a noise loud enough to shake his liquor cabinet, and everything went dark. When he came to shortly after, Kurogiri shot up like a bullet getting into a fighting stance and observing his surroundings. Initially nothing seemed different, but then his eyes settled on a collapsed figure. He eyed the being opposite him suspiciously. He seemed to have some kind of fire quirk with his whole body being made of flames. “HOLY FFFFTT DAMNIT!” He jumped over the counter and lifted the strange being onto his back so as to keep his bar from burning down. “Unnnhhh'' the man groaned as he was lifted but Kurogiri paid it no mind as he realized that the guy’s flames were warm… not hot, but a comforting warmth that Kurogiri immediately wanted to nuzzle into. However he refrained from indulging in such actions as he dumped the guy on the floor seeing as his bar was no longer in danger of burning down. “Great… one more thing that I have to take care of before I can get some goddamn rest” Kurogiri sighed and got to work taking care of his new “guest”.

When Grillby woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was strapped into some kind of chair. He could feel the leather straps pressing into his chest and arms; uncomfortably interrupting the natural flow of his magic. The second thing Grillby noticed was that his hands were trapped in strange cuffs that looked more like a rectangular box than anything else. Frantically he started to look around for anything he could use to free himself “What the-“ Grillby’s words were cut off when he saw the other figure in the room. He was dressed not altogether unlike Grillby himself, with a nicely tailored vest over a standard white collared shirt all topped off with dark pants and a striped tie. The only real difference in their fashion choices was the odd metal brace he wore around his neck. But the strangest part about this guy was how he was made of the most memorizing substance Grillby had ever seen. At its center it was a solid black void but the edges brightened into a rich purple that dissipated into the surrounding air. “Ummm” Grillby started only to be cut off once more as the void monster spoke, “greetings _friend_... not that im not _thrilled_ you decided to pop in unannounced (Kurogiri laughed internally at his clever wordplay) but would you mind telling me who you are and why you’re here?”

“What?” Grillby’s mind was racing a million miles a minute as he struggled to process his words, “Where am I? Who are you? Why the hell are you restraining me!?” Grillby's voice got steadily louder and higher as he became more and more confused and unsettled with his current situation, “LET ME GO!” Grillby started to struggle violently against the leather that was binding him, cursing himself as his raging emotions kept him from controlling his body temperature, a magical safeguard placed on elementals to keep one pissed off fireball from burning the entire underground, it was usually nice not having to keep his emotions in check all the time, especially because that had meant Grillby could peruse the monster he’d been pining after for decades, and not so coincidentally the monster who created the safeguard: Dr. Gaster. However right now grillby could have used the boost in heat that would naturally be caused by his blind panic.

“You may want to consider answering my question _friend...._ ” Grillby stopped his struggling only to double his efforts when he saw what the other guy was holding, “No…nonononono!”

“I suppose I guessed correctly then?” The void mused as he stalked towards Grillby “not a fan of water are we? Now...” Kurogiri dripped a little bit of water onto Grillby’s head causing his flames to dance wildly as he screamed out in pain. Time effectively stopped for Grillby, it could have been two minutes or two hours that the other monster kept this up but the pain was so great it didn't matter. Every drop felt like someone was digging a hole through his skull, or forearm, or anywhere the drops happened to land. Kurogiri on the other hand was fascinated by Grillby’s flames, the pillar of fire that danced atop his head didn't seem to have nerves but his head and arms proved very effective targets for his purposes. His goal wasn’t to break the guy, he just needed to make sure his quirk was exhausted in case he managed to get free of the blocker. After about 5 minutes the man was slumped and panting only able to let out a pained groan whenever the water made contact.

“Who….are….you?” Kurogiri stepped back a bit allowing Grillby a moment to catch his breath and respond, “G-Grillby” he panted “hmm, far from the strangest name I’ve heard.” The void set the glass of water onto the bar and walked to stand directly in front of Grillby “Now… What are you doing in my bar?”

Grillby was taken aback by this question and proceeded to go on the verbal offensive “W-What am I doing here?” He laughed tiredly, “You tell me pal, Last thing I remember I was walking home from work and next thing I know I’m strapped to a chair with what would seem to be a sadistic goth raincloud out for my blood” The void’s relentless yellow gaze seemed to soften a bit as he considered his next words carefully “I’d watch that tone of yours there spitfire, after all you are clearly at a disadvantage here, what with your quirk being muted and all”

“You’ll see just how muted my…” Grillby’s threat died on his firey tongue as he realized what the void had just said, “Quirk? What the hell is a quirk and what did you do to mine?!?” Kurogiri paused and stared at his captive’s renewed struggling with a mildly amused smirk on his face. “Are you serious?”

“Yes I’m serious what the hell are you on about?” The void chuckled and began pacing about the room, willing to humor this “Grillby” for the time being, “Quirks are basically superpowers my ignorant friend, I assume you've read a comic book before yes? Well you seem to have some kind of fire quirk that causes your whole body to be made of flames and there are many others with such abilities, ranging from controlling water, to stopping time.” He went on like this for about 5 minutes explaining the ins and outs of quirks all the while trying to sound as condescending as possible, but Grillby stopped him as soon as he heard that one word “...now let me tell you a better hero has never been known to mankind-”

“D-did you say mankind?” He questioned “...yes, what about it?”

“A-am I on the surface?” Grillby’s voice was barely a whisper as a newfound hope filled his chest, “The surface of what? Planet earth? Because yes. You are currently above ground.” In a brilliant moment of clarity all his emotions calmed instantly as he was consumed with a fierce wave of determination, Grillby’s flames flared from his usual orange glow into a violet hue highlighted with brilliant streaks of bright red fire all Coursing through his body and dancing wildly from the pillar atop his head. He was able to burn away his leather binds and melt the cuffs, then he ran towards the door with nothing but pure determination coursing through his soul.

Much to his surprise he made it to the door and opened it before the void could even react. Grillby stared outside in awe. “I’m...I’m above ground” with his adrenaline fading his flames cooled to a gentle orange, “it's been so long…” Kurogiri walked closer to Grillby ready to throw a portal in front of him at any moment, “You aren’t from around here are you Grillby?” Molten magic began to fall from his face simulating tears as Grillby stared into the rising sun. It had been so long since he’d seen it, since he’d seen the very source of his flame. Grillby smiled at the brilliant orb in the sky in the same way one would to a lost love,

“no.... I don’t think I am”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my first fic! Please leave comments and tell me how I can improve.
> 
> Ps. Sorry if I got any of the personalities wrong for the BNHA cast... I haven’t caught up with the anime for a while... oops.


	2. A Soulful Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys finally pause for 40 seconds and hear each other out.

“If you don’t mind…” Kurogiri continued, pulling Grillby out of his daze, “please come inside, I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding.” Reluctantly, Grillby complied keeping his magic at the tips of his fingers just in case gothton candy got any ideas. “Before you even think about what you are going to say next _BUDDY_ …” Grillby’s hand flared into a torch-like flame. “Tell me who you are and give me one good reason not to dust you right here and now.” while Kurogiri might not have completely understood that part about the dust Grillby’s general message was clear, “my name is Kurogiri, and you need me. For the simple reason that you have no idea how this world works.”

“Try harder purple stuff” Grillby spat, “I’m smarter that I look, and it can’t be too hard for me to blend in around here if your appearance is anything to go by” Kurogiri cursed his quirk’s uselessness when it came to restraining people and calmly continued, “that may be so, but you aren’t human… are you? And if that’s the case then I can think of at least a few basic rights that would be stripped away from you the second anyone out there figures that out” he paused letting his words sink in, yes it may have been a lie, as hyper intelligent animals were given the same rights as humans but he was hoping that Grillby was clueless enough that he would believe him. “I can see humans here aren‘t as different as I may have thought…”

There was a tense pause that had Kurogiri weighing the pros and cons of porting this guy off a cliff, until finally he continued, “ Fine” Grillby snuffed out his hand with a flourish and went to sit at the bar, “why don’t you start by telling me a little bit about monsters in this world and how they’ve been treated” glad that the situation had cooled down (heh) Kurogiri’s thoughts turned to how this creature could be useful to him. “Well first off there aren't any that occur naturally. Humans have been able to make animal mutants, and modify themselves beyond recognition but nothing like you has ever existed that didn’t start human.” 

“So humans didn't… the war never…” Kurogiri listened carefully to the guy’s every mumble tucking them away for future use. Meanwhile the orbs of light yellow flame that served as Grillby’s eyes had grown from the size of grapes to tennis balls as he fully comprehended his situation, “ _I’m the only monster here”_ he thought, “ _I’m completely alone in a completely foreign world full of freaking humans...”_

Then Grillby asked his next question, “do you have a soul?” Kurogiri paused for a moment “what do you mean do I have a soul? Are you asking if there’s an afterlife?” The flame monster sighed “no, I mean like this”  
  
Grillby reached his hand out towards Kurogiri and suddenly a pale green light began to shine from within his chest. The light soon condensed into what he assumed was supposed to be a heart shape, but it was torn all over with parts of the object being slightly discoloured from the mint green that covered most of it. Once it was fully formed it proceeded to slowly float about a foot from his chest and then it just kind of hovered there.

Kurogiri stumbled in shock, “W-what is that?!” The broken soul followed the voids jerky movements and Grillby chuckled at both the irony of his soul color (kindness) and how the tables had turned. “That Kurogiri, is your soul, the culmination of all your thoughts, feelings, desires, and the core of your entire being, physically and mentally speaking”

“Why is it so… torn?” While he may not understand what was happening, Kurogiri knew three things about the current situation:

  1. Whatever that thing was, it shouldn’t look like that
  2. He wanted Grillby to put it back inside of him (heh)
  3. And he couldn’t let the hero’s find Grillby _NO MATTER WHAT._



“I’m afraid I can’t say old chum, my guess is that you are pretty far from a normal human aren't you?” Kurogiri turned away at this and stared into what was apparently his soul. Gathering himself Kurogiri stood up and spoke to Grillby with a calm, yet authoritative tone, “put it back, and explain to me how those things work… Does everyone have them?” With a wave of his hand Grillby dismissed his soul and it faded back into his chest.

“Well the long and short of it is this: everyone has a soul, they serve as a mirror of their owner as well as a manifestation of their life-force. Humans can’t summon one another’s souls, I don’t know why but they just can’t. Monsters however are very in-tune with their souls and can tell a number of things about someone simply by looking at one. For example: your soul is green, the color of kindness so  _ somehow _ that is your most prominent character trait. Additionally from reading your soul I can tell that you are very confident in yourself and feel I pose no threat to you.” Kurogiri shuddered, feeling more than a little violated at the thought that this stranger could on any level, read his innermost thoughts with the wave of his hand. Grillby stood up and stalked towards him causing Kurogiri to back up on instinct, “And because I know that... I have one question for you mr. Ink Blot… why haven’t you killed me yet? It's clear from the warm welcome I received when I first woke up that I’m not supposed to be here...” 

Grillby summoned Kurogiri’s soul once more, “...And you’ve proven yourself to be quite…capable when it comes to hurting others...” he grabbed onto the others soul and began to squeeze it, “now let me tell you buddy, my soul is  _ purple _ , the color of  _ perseverance _ , and I am perfectly willing to adapt to this world if it means I get to see the sun again and well…” Grillby chuckled as he watched the other start to panic as he felt the searing pain from Grillby’s hand on his soul “If what you said earlier is true, I can’t have anyone knowing my secret, and right now the only one who  _ does _ … is  _ you _ ”. Kurogiri gasped as he felt wave after wave of burning searing pain course throughout his entire body “W-WAIT!!” He gasped “I-I can give you protection…” Grillby let up on his soul a bit allowing him to continue, “You would be an incredibly valuable asset to my employers… you see, it seems you can not only control and create fire, but can summon the most vulnerable part of a person and to an extent, read their minds… am I wrong?” Grillby chuckled “No, that's about right” Kurogiri continued “another benefit is you are apparently able to break free of quirk blocking restraints and melt through just about any other kind correct?” 

“As long as it isn't liquid I can burn through just about anything.” Kurogiri smiled “If you worked for us we could give you a home here, no one would know your secret and by keeping me alive you won't piss off my boss, which would probably result in you being doused as soon as you let your guard down.” 

“I assume the nature of this work would be primarily… illegal then?” Grillby silently hoped that these humans did in fact have laws against violence and that he had simply been unfortunate enough to have his first encounter be with someone who was an exception and not the norm.

“Yes, you would in essence be something like a bounty hunter; with your target anything and anyone we decide” Grillby’s resolve wavered at this but Kurogiri continued, “However you will be allowed to decide just how… messy things get as long as you complete your mission. We aren't that terrible, we simply have goals to achieve and the means to achieve them and all we ask of you.. is that you help us out now and again” 

The flame monster was silent for a long while, he thought about the war he fought against the humans, everything he had lost, his life in the underground. Could he really do this? Taking out one hostile human was one thing, but accepting money to take out god only knows how many? “tell me Grillby…” the smooth voice of Kurogiri snapped him out of his daze, “how long were you stuck down there because of the humans?” Kurogiri hoped he had put what few pieces of backstory this guy had let slip together correctly and waited for an answer. After another long pause, Grillby whispered his response, “four hundred eighty nine years, eleven months, and 24 days.” 

  
  


Grillby returned Kurogiri’s soul to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, sorry to leave it here but I hope you guys are ready bc in the next chapter Grillby meets the rest of the league :3


	3. Let’s Gather Round The Campfire.....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Say hello to the League...

As Kurogiri sent out a mass text telling the core league members to return to the hideout, he took the moment to gather his thoughts. First off he had to convince Shigaraki that Grillby was useful, which shouldn’t be too hard considering the guy’s abilities. But what was really stressing him out was the others, Mr. Compress is a professional and probably won't object, Dabi might be threatened by the Addition of another fire user but he’d just have to suck it up, Toga would most likely try to get ahold of the guys blood which probably won’t be too much of an issue as he’d already debriefed Grillby on everyone’s… stranger personality traits (also he wasn’t 100% sure Grillby even _had_ blood), Twice was generally pretty friendly but honestly Kurogiri has no idea how he will react, and none of the others really left much of an impression on him so they shouldn’t be any trouble.

Meanwhile, Grillby was sitting cross legged at the bar pouring himself some scotch. His mind was no more at ease then Kurogiri’s, especially after his description of the rest of the group. It was becoming more and more apparent that he had joined some kind of rag-tag group of terrorists without a clear goal in mind. Every member except the leader wanted to uphold their version of morals and take out any who they deemed “fake heroes” Grillby supposed that made him a supervillain now… he poured himself some more scotch.

“So how does that work?” Grillby raised an eyebrow at the void, “What do you mean?”

“How is it that water might as well be acid, but you can drink that with no problems” Kurogiri motions towards the scotch. “OH! That, well you know how humans can drink water no problem but if they so much as touch acid it burns their skin? Its kinda like that” Kurogiri’s mood was further soured by Grillby’s “no shit” tone of voice.  “Mmm fine, and don’t patronize me sparky, you might as well be from a different planet than me so don’t go getting all snippy because I’m curious.” Grillby’s undoubtedly snarky reply was cut short as the door to the bar swung open. The figure standing in the doorframe wore a black top hat and some kind of mask, all brought together by the long trench coat that flapped elegantly behind him as he strode over to the bar and sat down. “What’s with the walking birthday candle?” He asked, causing Grillby to shoot him the nastiest glare he could manage with his limited facial features, “Be patient, we’ll do introductions when everyone is here” Kurogiri interrupted, effectively diffusing the situation.

After about fifteen minutes, just everyone had arrived with the exception of Toga. Upon Kurogiri’s instance everyone was silently entertaining themselves in whatever way they could while they waited: the first one who entered who Grillby assumed was mr. Compress was now leaning against the wall and honestly may have been asleep, there was some lizard mutant playing with knives at one of the tables, sitting with him was a very twitchy man in a black and white bodysuit, and someone who looked like he had played with fire just a little too much (and was also in serious need of a nap), finally sitting in the corner was some weirdo with a disembodied hand covering most of his face. Grillby couldn’t help but shudder slightly as he wondered how the hand came into that guy’s possession. 

Finally the door opened revealing a blond haired girl in a school uniform and a beige sweater. Grillby would have called her normal compared to the others if it weren’t for the fact that as soon as she saw him, after the briefest moment of consideration, she whipped out a knife and charged at him. Standing up and preparing to deflect her blade Grillby began speaking, “So you must be Toga the-” before she could even make contact Toga fell through a hole in the floor (that looked suspiciously like Kurogiri) and landed on the opposite side of the bar after coming out of a similar hole. “Now that everyone is here we can begin” Kurogiri stated. Toga was now sitting on top of a table rubbing her head and giggling “hey there hottie~” she purred at Grillby, “I wonder what  _ you _ taste like” the flame monster suddenly felt a chill course through his entire body. “Toga, shut up.” The weirdo with the hand on his face spoke up, “Kurogiri why the hell have you brought yet another moron onto the team?” He scratched at his arms as he continued, “I thought that we were done with recruiting” The void stood up from his seat, “yes Shigaraki, we were. But then several of our “recruits” died not one week ago after  _ the incident _ ” Shigaraki visibly deflated after the mention of “the incident” piquing Grillby’s curiosity, but he remained silent as it seemed he was already on thin ice. 

“Everyone! This is Tentō Shiai…” he gestured towards Grillby referring to him by the fake name they decided on (while “Lit Match” may have been a little on the nose, it was the best they could think of). “He might not look like much but I can assure you he would be of great use to us. For starters, no one knows he’s part of our group AND he has no criminal record-” Shigaraki interrupted again “Stop wasting my time and get to the point.” The void let out a frustrated sigh, “He’d be of use to us because unlike everyone else in this room, no hero has seen Tentó on national T.V. Attacking a group of high schoolers!” mr. Compress pushed himself from the wall “So what you are saying is we can use this guy as a spy? We have Toga for that and she is much more qualified with her quirk, so why would we bother with this guy when we alre-“ suddenly a bright light began to shine from mr. Compress and everyone was stupefied as they saw a cyan heart float from within his chest to about a foot in front of him where it gently hovered. 

All heads turned to Grillby who was now standing in a pose that radiated confidence as his body sparked and flared in a mesmerizing entropy of bright orange flame, “You need me because my quirk “soul exposure” allows me to tear out a person's life force: this leaves the culmination of their being completely vulnerable to anyone’s attack whether friend or foe”. He rushed towards Compress and gripped his soul “and as your friend Compress here can testify” grillby squeezed the cyan heart causing the magician to scream in agony “it can be a rather useful for torture purposes.” Grillby released the soul and let it return to mr. Compress, “So if you’d rather be without a quirk that can drag someone like All-Might down to the same level as you and me…” Grillby stalked back over to the bar and sat down, “I’ll just be on my way” the room was silent for an awkward amount of time leaving Grillby to his thoughts “ _I can’t believe these guys are even considering me as a member after that display, Kurogiri wasn’t lying... in this world a good quirk will get to very far”_

Spinner went to help Compress get up and shouted “SO YOUR JUST GOING TO COME IN HERE, ATTACK OUR COMRADE, AND ASK TO JOIN?! WHAT KIND OF LUNATIC DOES THAT!?” 

“That was my strategy” Toga commented “honestly, why are you getting so upset?” She started walking towards Grillby “Shiai-Kun just gave us a pretty compelling argument for why we should let him join the team and honestly~” Toga jumped into Grillby’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her head into his chest, “I’m convinced~” She opened her mouth and went to take a bite only to be met with a burn to the tongue and a shove to the floor “kya~!!!” She let her tongue hang out of her mouth and looked up lewdly at a very unamused Grillby from the floor, “mmmm spicy” Finally Shigaraki spoke up again “Enough Toga, leave the walking party favor alone. If you want to practice seduction do it on your own time.” Shigaraki stood up and addressed the group “I’ve made up my mind”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok first things first, Grillby is acting so differently here because he had a conversation with Kurogiri about how he should present himself, so basically Grillby is trying to come off as more brash and intimidating but ends up being more like a cheesy comic book villain.
> 
> Secondly thank you for reading, chapter 4 here we come!


	4. Alcoholics Anonymous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby barely has to speak to get the overworked (and absolutely wasted) Aizawa spilling tiny bits and pieces of intel all over Grillby’s listening ears.

Grillby eyed the fake ID in his hands, “Tentó Shiai… Don't know if i'll ever get used to that name.” Grillby’s new Identity was thankfully similar to his real one, he grew up in someplace called America but moved to Japan in the hopes of making a new life for himself, he was 32 years old (it's easy to fake your age when you don’t have much of a face), and he currently worked as a bartender in an establishment known for getting a good number of hero customers. He lived in a small apartment above the bar that he rented from the owners. He had been assigned to this bar specifically because of one specific regular: the hero “Erasure Head”. 

The guy was known to come in for a drink or two every night after work and sometimes he would bring very important colleagues with him. It was amazing what Grillby was able to learn about the guy simply by listening to he drunken rambles. Not the least of which were: apparently he cares for about two dozen stray cats that wander in and out of his house at their leisure (Aizawa says that if they can get in then they have earned their snacks), the principal of U.A. often spends his time sleeping piggy back style underneath Aizawa hero costume, and finally he apparently had a crush on miss Joke for about two years back in his school days. While childhood crushes and workplace gossip may not seem like the MOST useful information it did give good insight into the guys personality, schedule, and those of his co-workers. At the moment the Erasure Hero was wrapping up a story about a time he once managed to help stop a criminal without anyone knowing he was there (at the age of 13 surprisingly enough). 

“Ann then I jus left beecause if the job gets done who gives a fuck who gets the credit ya know?”

”Indeed, glory hogs can be so petulant” Grillby had been hoping that his target would have brought a friend or two with him tonight bu alas, No such luck as Aizawa was alone and drinking himself to death. “Fill me up a-again T-Tenstó my good maaan” Grillby couldn’t help but chuckle as he was reminded of Sans, he would often do this when Papyrus was getting on his nerves or after a particularly rough day of sentry duty. So Grillby decided he’d treat this the same way, “Rough day mr. Aizawa?”

“Yuuu know it firree maaaan, damn parentz so haardta conivonsta letus keep their kidz in a fugin  boarding schoool.. like therres anywhrr safer then with pro pheros?!?! ” Grillby raised his non-existent eyebrow “oh?” He prompted, “Yesh, we built an entiiiire compound for these brats aan in order to let them move in fugin All Might had to get on his knees”

“Sounds rough buddy” Grillby couldn’t believe all the info the usually tight lipped Aizawa was letting slip tonight, Grillby suddenly realized he might have lost track of how many drinks he’d given the poor guy, “all this because All Might had to frigin pass the torch he deflated into an anorexic skeleton with cheese whiz for hair!” a sudden wave of heat hit Aizawa snapping him from his drunken monologue, “but yoo don care about that, do ya flamey boy? Howzit going with you maan? Ya gatta girlfriend yet?” While frustrated that he had stopped talking, Grillby didn't want to make the guy suspicious so he let the conversation move to his love life, or… lack thereof, after all it was important to endear Aizawa to him and earn his trust, “well I met this one girl… she’s a regular here and i kinda think she has a thing for me, but i'd never make a move, she’s probably just being nice and I-”

“NOOOOOOOoooooo0000oooo” the wasted Aizawa whined, “Youu gotta at least  _ try  _ man, this girl sounds cute and Iv evn yer dense ass thinks she’s droppin hints she probably likes youu alott.” Grillby let out a gentle chuckle “Whatever you say Sans” 

“AnD aNoThEr ThInG!!!....” The flame monster was pretty sure Aizawa was about to pass out, “You remind me of thiz Kidd Izuko mondura or whateva the fug his name is, he and his friend ocho OB-viously like each other but they both assume tha otherr izn’t interestd” Grillby absentmindedly wondered if he could use this information while he got ready to close the bar for the night “I swear that kid is a sure fire for the next provisional hero license exaam but he’s dumb as a sack of brix”

About an hour later Grillby was hauling a passed out Aizawa out of the bar and handing him over to his emergency contact (Aizawa had given it to him when he first started working here because apparently this guy was more like Sans then he thought, he even had his own Papyrus) “here ya go mr. Yamada, make sure he gets some water in his system ok? I’d of done it but... I never touch the stuff.” 

The banana haired fool let out an ear splitting laugh “of course my fine fiery friend! Thanks for getting him this far, come on Shota, let go of him”

“BuT hEeZ sOoOoOoO wAAAAArrrmm” Aizawa hugged Grillby tighter making for quite the awkward moment.

Eventually they got him off and Grillby was able to return to his apartment where there was already a portal waiting for him. Grillby heaved a sigh “well let's get this over with.” And with that he jumped through the portal.


	5. Burning Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby reports back to the league and.... revelations are made.

When grillby came out on the other side of the portal, he was surprised to see some kind of warehouse instead of the cozy bar he had become accustomed to, “What happened to the bar Smoggy?” 

“Apparently its “To ObViOuS” to hideout in a bar after our last one was discovered and destroyed” Kurogiri responded spitefully. Dabi let out an exaggerated sigh, “What actually happened is we had an intervention with the guy on how his love for the old place was putting us all at risk” if a faceless mass of purple mist could pout, Kurogiri was definitely trying his damndest. “Hot Damn Dabi, no need to rub it in dude.” Spinner looked at Kurogiri sympathetically, “Tch, never even liked the place that much.” 

“He’s just mad because Kurogiri wouldn’t let him drink~” Toga teased “Shut it bitch!” A short burst of blue flame erupted from Davis palms as he continued, “He didn’t give you any either!” Now it was Dabi’s turn to pout, “ummm anyway…” Grillby interrupted “Eraser head finally let something slip” the whole room went silent with all eyes on Grillby, “U.A. Is building a dormitory for their class 1A students, other classes may be involved in this but I believe it to only be 1A. Additionally Izuku Midoriya at a minimum is going to be trying to earn his provisional hero license at the next exam, but this probably extends to all of 1A as well.” Once Grillby had finished his report he leaned against a nearby support beam to let Shigaraki absorb what he had been told. After what felt like 20 minutes (but was probably closer to 5, Grillby was just feeling impatient tonight), Shigaraki spoke “mmmm. Toga! I want you to infiltrate that exam and…collect Midoria’s DNA, I trust you to work out the details” Toga stood tall and gave a salute “Hai!” She slumped back down and returned to fiddling with her knives, “Is that everything Shiai?” Kurogiri asked, “Yes, and if that's all you need id like to go to bed now…” 

“Hold up there Sparky,” 

Grillby turned to see it was Dabi who had spoken up “We’ve been talking, and for confidentiality’s sake we can’t keep using your name, you never know when someone is listening after all” at this Grillby began to panic, he’d never even thought about making a fake name for himself... but on second thought, he really should have, “so what IS your villain name?” 

“You can call me….” _demon flame? No. hellfire? No. Firefly? No. Sparks? No. Ember? No no no NO!! DAMNT IT!!!!_ ”

.......”Burning Soul?” 

The silence that followed was some of the most stressful in Grillby’s life. “Alright, but we’re calling you Burner for short.” He breathed a sigh of relief, “ok. cool, can I go home now?” 

“Yeah, sure whatever. Kurogiri, send him back”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having finally arrived back home Grillby began to partake in what had become is “favorite” pastime and wondered what the hell he was doing. “Gaaaaaaahhh!! Burning Soul? Really? That’s my name now?....” holy crap that was his name now. Finally with that final nail in the coffin Grillby realized he was never going to be able to go back to his normal life. All his old friends, Sans, Papyrus, the Dogi, Bigmouth, that one rabbit monster who couldn’t handle their liquor... Grillby would never see them again.

At this thought the brightly burning flames he usually sported began to dull and shrink, burning like a fire on the verge of dying out. He mindlessly walked over to his bed and as he laid down he felt waves of dispare and mourning wash over him as he lamented the loss of his old life. It had been a little more than a month since he’d first been thrown face first into this strange world, and the longer he was here the more he accepted that he wasn’t just buying time until he could go home. And it was already too late to turn back and try living an honest life, Shigaraki had made sure to test his loyalty early on, with the LV in his soul a near constant reminder of that particular outing with his new “friends”.

The league was sick. Though not as heartless as he’d first assumed. Mr. Compress and Kurogiri were the guiding forces of the league serving as mature calming forces and the voice of reason within the group. Though they could both be cold they truly cared for the other members well being. Dabi, Spinner, and Toga on the other hand showed a fierce loyalty to Shigaraki and each other. Grillby fully believed that they would each give almost anything to protect one another. It was strange... Grillby thought.... humans can be so loving towards some, and completely cruel and uncaring towards others. Their ability to create excuses and delusions to justify these double standards showed no bounds.

“I’m going to be stuck here forever” Grillby thought, letting that one sentence echo within his mind for hours. “I’m going to be stuck here forever... here forever, I’m going to be here forever, STUCK here...... FOREVER....”

Grillby started into the sun as it rose signaling it was now morning. Suddenly as the heat of the sun hit his now almost stone cold flame his soul started to glow a bright purple. He looked at it as it pulsed, invigorating his flames and tinting them with a pastel hue. 

_perseverance...._

He couldn’t give up, he couldn’t let this world, these _humans_ be the end of him. They could try to drag him down, they could try to snuff him out, hell they could even try to douse him... 

but he refused

He would rise beyond this tragedy

He would burn away his past and rise from the ashes a new monster... no, a new _man,_ Burning Soul: The Forgotten Flame

As he accepted his new life Burner, for the first time since he’d killed that human.... his soul felt light. Checking his stats out of curiosity Burner understood not only why the weight had been lifted but also why his flames seemed perfectly happy to remain a lavender blaze.   
  


-BURNING SOUL 

*7 ATK 5 DEF LV 4

*HIS MIND IS NOW CLEAR

*SO IS HIS OBJECTIVE

He’d leveled up for the first time since the war... only this time.... he didn’t feel guilty.... he didn’t feel like his soul was about to shatter... he only felt new. Like he’d had a gallon of lighter fluid poured all over his body. For the first time in a very long while, Burner felt like ACTING.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so Grillby not only changes his name in this chapter but he also fully accepts his role as a villain in this world, he no longer even wants to go back home and has resolved to compleat his self given mission upon this version of earth.
> 
> Also the way I see LV working is that it only gets absorbed into the soul when the person is receptive to it. Monsters during the war were receptive because they needed the boost in power, but here Grillby is still trying to reject his newfound place in the world of BNHA so he doesn’t level up until his mind and soul are ready to. (Monsters will eventually level up wether or not they want to though because it takes a lot of energy to keep it LV out. Hence why our boy is so tired this chapter... well he is also kinda depressed but you know...


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What makes him Human...

Long after the fall of the league of villains, Burning Soul remained active. He took every job given to him, no matter who it was from. Hero? Villain? It didn't matter, Burner didn’t care which side he was helping to begin with, and as he gained LV he cared even less. Working as an information broker for both sides, he made a decent living for himself. To the heroes he was Burning Secret- the all knowing rogue hero risking his life to acquire information in the name of justice. Though many of the higher ups saw him as a threat so dealing with him was forbidden, but that didn't stop the more rebellious heros. And to the villains, he was Burning Soul- the most reliable source of information on all operations, hero or otherwise. However, neither side knew the true nature of his work, to escalate the animosity between the two sides, to increase casualties which would lead to tragic backstories thus creating more heroes and villains, keeping his business running. During his time with the league, Burner had been able to develop a nearly irresistible truth serum using a combination of his magic and a charming personality. As a convenient safeguard, just in case someone managed to get ahold of it, the magic in the serum needs to be activated by Burner himself  _ after _ ingestion. 

With his under the table work, Burner was able to earn enough money to buy his own bar, and eventually he was able to expand untill he owned almost every bar in the city, with only his closest allies being allowed to play the part of bartender. As time went on it eventually got to the point that no one really knew who Burning Soul was, as if you wanted information you needed only to go to any bar, have a few drinks, and voice your request. Then somehow, within the next week you would receive a call or text telling you exactly what you wanted to know along with somewhere to leave the payment. If you tried to avoid payment and take the given information for free… well… people didn't try that anymore after the first 20 or so. He kept this charade up for hundreds of years, becoming a legend, the all seeing watcher of the city. And if anyone went looking for the mysterious Burning Soul, or got too curious about who he was, they wouldn't be looking for very long. 

The moment Burner had accepted that his life as Grillby was behind him and fully accepted his new life he was able to flourish. He saw himself as the justice humanity never got back in his universe, he would punish humanity for taking everything from him. This was justice. This was what they deserved… So what if he came to love his job? Came to enjoy hurting people? 

“That’s just what makes me human”

Burning Soul muttered as he opened his bar for another day of work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! You have no idea how excited I was to see so many people checking out my story and leaving Kudos. Y’all have made writing this a truly wonderful experience and for that I thank you.
> 
> Please leave comments telling me how i can improve! (I’ll try and respond to every one)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my first fic! Please leave comments and tell me how I can improve.
> 
> Ps. Sorry if I got any of the personalities wrong for the BNHA cast... I haven’t caught up with the anime for a while... oops.


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